ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2561
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2561
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09 Jul 2002
From: SARA LIANA FRIEDEMANN 


Greetings from the Academy of S. Gabriel!

You asked for help forming a name for an Irish woman living between 
1250 and 1450, and wanted to know if <Mo/r ingen [some form of Mathew]> 
would be a more authentic form of your currently registered name, 
<Moira Catherine Mathews>.  Here is the information we have found.

<Mo/r> is a fine choice for your given name; it was by far one of the 
most popular feminine names in later medieval Ireland. [1]  (The slash 
represents an accent over the previous letter).  However, we would like 
to note that <Mo/r> is not the Gaelic equivalent of <Moira>.  <Moira> 
arose in modern times from the Gaelic name <Ma/ire>, a form of <Mary>.  
<Ma/ire> itself, though, was extremely rare in the Middle Ages; because 
it was the name of the Virgin Mary, it was considered too holy to use.  
Instead, names such as <Gilla Muire> "servant of Mary" and <Ma/el 
Muire> "devotee of Mary" were used. [1]

Gaels in Ireland recorded the English name <Matthew> as <Maiu/> or 
<Maidiu/>; the first spelling probably represents the French form 
<Mahieu>, while the second likely is the English <Matthew>. [1] 
However, we have not found any evidence that this name was used by 
native Gaels.

There is also another masculine name which was relatively popular in 
later medieval Ireland, <Mathghamhain>, which was rendered as <Matheus> 
in Latin. [1,3]  <Matheus> was also the standard Latinization of French 
<Matheu> and its English development <Mathew>. [2,4]  Thus, from the 
14th century on the names were at least indirectly associated, though 
examples of direct Anglicization of <Mathghamhain> to <Mathew> are not 
found until the 17th century. [1]  If you wish to use <Mathghamhain> as 
your father's name, the appropriate form of "Mo/r, daughter of 
Mathghamhain" is <Mo/r inghean Mhathghamhna>.

You are right that double given names were not used in Ireland before 
1600; dropping <Catherine> from your name is a good choice.  For your 
period, <Mo/r inghean Mhathghamhna>, "Mo/r, daughter of Mathghamhain," 
is an excellent name.  It would have been pronounced roughly \MOR EE-
ny@n BH~AH-gh@bh~-n@\.  Here \bh~\ is the sound of <b> in Spanish 
<lobo> with simultaneous release of air through the nose, \@\ is the 
sound of <a> in <soda> or <about>, and \gh\ is the voiced form of \kh\, 
which is the sound of <ch> in Scottish <loch> or German <Bach>. [5] 
This could have been recorded in Latin as <Mora filia Mathei>.

We hope that this letter has been useful to you, and that you will not 
hesitate to write again if any part was unclear or if you have further 
questions.  Research and commentary on this letter were provided by 
Arval Benicoeur, Mari neyn Brian, Talan Gwynek, Adelaide de Beaumont,
and Ursula Georges.

For the Academy,
~Aryanhwy merch Catmael, 09Jul02

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References:

[1] O/ Corra/in, Donnchadh and Fidelma Maguire, _Irish Names_ 
(Dublin: The Lilliput Press, 1990). s.nn. Ma/ire, Maiu/, Mathgamain, 
Mo/r

[2] Stephen Beechinor, Beatrix Fa"rber, Daithi/ O/ Corra/in, 
ed., "Annals of the Four Masters, Volume 3" (WWW: CELT: Corpus of 
Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, Ireland, 
2000), entries M1172-M1372.
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100005C/.
M1235.2   Matheus prioir Oile/in na Trinoide

[3] Donnchadh O/ Corra/in, ed., "Annals of Inisfallen" (WWW: CELT: 
Corpus of Electronic Texts: a project of University College, Cork, 
Ireland, 2000).
http://www.ucc.ie/celt/online/G100004/
I1313.5   Matheo
I1313.5   Murcad filium Mathei I Briain
I1313.5   Matheum
I1318.3   Matheum O Briain filium Donaldi Connactyg

[4] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian 
Names_, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Matthew

[5] One could use plain \v\ as a rough approximation.